The evaluation of mental health outcome at a community-based psychodynamic psychotherapy service for young people: A 12-month follow-up based on self-report data

The present study focuses on the evaluation of mental health outcome of 151 young people who received psychodynamic psychotherapy at the Brandon Centre, a community-based psychodynamic psychotherapy centre for young people. This paper reports the results from a 1-year follow-up based on self-report data. Participants aged 12-18 years completed either the Youth Self Report form or, if they were aged over 18, the Young Adult Self Report form at intake, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year. The domains evaluated included young people's externalizing problems, internalizing problems, and total problems. Outcome was measured in three different ways: the change in mean scores; the change in numbers from the clinical to the non-clinical range; and categorizing cases according to the presence of statistically reliable change in the level of adaptation. These approaches showed improvement among participants in all three domains. Although there was a high general tendency to improve, the rate of improvement dropped significantly over time. Several tentative predictors of improvement were identified. The paper discusses how the results from systematic monitoring of effectiveness at the Brandon Centre have formed an empirical basis that has led to changes in service delivery with the aim of optimizing provision for troubled young people.